Group C Predictions

Whenever you are ready to drop the off-topic and gratuitous ad hominem attacks, it shall stop.

The power to do so is at your fingertips. I am convinced you can do it bro!

 

Delaney also looked excellent and scored against Poland in 2017, back when they were ranked 5th in the world ranking :
https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/associations/association=pol/men/index.html
... and in any case ... he is no attacking midfielder like Eriksen but a holding midfielder ... so obviously you would not expect him to make a hattrick no matter who they are playing against .... and btw ... I have not mentioned anything about salaries ? ..

Btw, since you Peruvians keep bringing up Danish Euro results from 2015-16 then lets have a look at the movement in the World ranking since then :

https://www.fifa.com/fifa-world-ranking/associations/association=den/men/index.html

I think that it should be quite obvious that the experimental Danish team of 2015-16 is by far the poorest performing Danish NT team we have seen the past 25 years.. and still they only missed qualifying directly for the Euro-16 due to CAS overruling UEFA and awarding Albania 3 away points vs.. Serbia .

 

Hey @Ceres, isn't the FIFA rating system flawed at this juncture though?

You got top AFC+CAF teams that will not make it to the top ranking chart, even if they performed very well in qualifiers.

Their FIFA ranks are weighed down by virtue of confederation affiliation alone. I mean Asian+African teams victories are always worth less points than UEFA victories, for instance.

The only way AFC+CAF can catch up is by playing a competitive tournament against rivals with higher weights, once every 4 years.

 

The conspiracy strikes back.

 

Hehe, if anything you proved you don't know the first thing about cocaine, doping, or laws. How was that about athletes drinking mate de coca to mask their cocaine consumption?

 

Yeah, and you haven't heard the rest either.

They say that Big Bad Wolf FIFA is giving *unexpected* doping tests to Peruvian players, right at this moment!

Everybody knows that doping tests are supposed to be expected, all the time.

What do you think Guerrero's crack team will do now?

 

I would defer to Guerrero's legal crack team.

You know, those fellas that said that Guerrero's hair cocaine test results were turned down as improper evidence at a CAS proceeding.

Even though, other CAS doping cases based their rulings on hair cocaine test results. Please read the Gasquet case foil at WADA's archives, for further reference.

 

Well it's already been legally and scientifically proven that he did not consume cocaine... he did hair follicle tests that rejected that possibility. Also, the amount of a metabolyte of a cocaine ingredient, was so minuscule that it would be impossible for him to have consumed it directly.

The ban was for a "small level of negligence" on his part. which 14 months was absurd... He was in concentration with his national team, in a hotel that was 5 stars and sectioned out to be protected from the public... how can he be at fault for trusting the location. He shouldn't have to have a personal dietitian testing every piece of food he eats at all times.

 

Lol where did this come from o.o haven't seen anyone be angry about the doping test at Peru's camp.

Anyway, CAF has earned their spot in the FIFA dungeon at the moment, I'm not expecting much from Nigeria or Senegal this year. Egypt has a chance but lost some momentum with Elneny and Salah injuries. AFC I expect a decent showing though, at the very least in play.

Let's everyone take a breath lol, anything can happen at the WC. Writing off Peru, Denmark or Australia at this point is silly. Comparing players and form from 2016 also has minimal effect.

(Also lol at crack team)

 

It's hardly flawed when comparing Denmark to other European teams and their results ... like Poland and Sweden ...

 

I thought it was flawed given that even Venezuela is at #33 in the June 2018 ranking.

You know a points system is busted when the bottom team of a continental group scores that high during a World Cup month. Venezuela has not played a single match since November 2017.

 

It definitely has some flaws but I can't see why Venezuela would go down just because they're not playing either. Bolivia is 59th, seems appropriate.

Last games Venezuela drew Peru, almost drew Chile, drew Ecuador, USA, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, and crushed Paraguay's hopes and dreams. They improved and by form 33rd spot seems fine. We'll have to disagree here I suppose.

 

Yep, it is very likely that CAS ruled out recreational use of the stimulant substance.

Just wondering why it decided 14 months against Guerrero.

Hopefully, the Federal Swiss Court will rule 1 more time in his favor, and make his case foil available to the general public.

 

I'm peruvian... the rule is the rule, he had it in his system, he should have a ban placed on him. the 6 months should have been more than sufficient. Specially if they agree he did not use the drug for recreational purposes and also agree that he did not intent to gain any performance enhancement.

WADA wanted to make a statement out of this and now that the punishment was suspended by the Swiss Federal Court, i can only imagine how much WADA will lose on this. it was excessive on WADA's part. if he had actually consumed, then well screw it, ban him. but he never once had any issue with it in the past, and has submitted to countless testings for both club and country. 14 months for something that he has " minimal fault " in was excessive.

 

Yep. The best thing that can come out of this: WADA+FIFA change their ban periods/rules for assessment.

Guerrero will still need to fight this after he finishes the WC.

 

Yes, he will. At least at the moment, he has his head clear and will play the world cup as he deserves. Fighting to earn a spot in CONMEBOL is tough as it is, specially for Peru who have underperformed and been plagued by complacent players and directors that did nothing for the team.

You could tell when they would play that they were just going through the motions, we finally have a team and actually wants to play.

 

When was that ?

Latest matches by Venezuela against Chile, both matches played during last WC qualifiers, at their home (1-4) and away at ours (3-1), were "easy" wins for our team (almost as "easy" as beating Peru, whenever we've played them in the last years).

Last time, we lost against them happened in 2011, and since then, we've won every match by huge scores.

https://www.11v11.com/teams/chile/tab/opposingTeams/opposition/Venezuela/

 

Lol yeah I'm misremebering that match, I got confused with the last Ecuador Chile match. Aside from that match Venezuela's turn of form stands though.

Calm down there tiger We'll see how Copa America and next qualifiers go

 

As another issue, Great, to see Guerrero back in the peruvian team.

If there really was someone in the whole peruvian team whom deserved to play a WC, without any doubt, that player should be Paolo Guerrero.

 

Context. His criticism goes along the line of who shot a free–kick, or plain mocking: "... a brand-new coach, who was still learning how to make match substitutions."

Incidentally, Sanvicente has a number of Venezuelan championships and cups, results in Libertadores (otherwise we wouldn't even know who Caracas F.C. is) and is regarded at about the same level as Farías.

Anyways, it's all about degrading Conmebol because, according to him, there is, or was, a conspiracy to hold down the development of football in Africa, lead by Uefa and Conmebol.

 

Probably 1/3–1/4.

Most predict France, and it's not clear if Denmark or Peru. Mourinho thinks Australia will go through, while most think Australia will have a say on who will go through, but not themselves.

Now, if football is playing as a team above individual talent, then it's not that clear why France is that favorite. Yes, they have more depth than anyone, but there are numerous cases of tactics and discipline neutralizing all that talent.

 

Prediction time comes next week. All I can say now is that I think this group will be one of those where all teams end up winning one game at least. I think Peru, Denmark and Australia will beat each other. In this case whoever steal points from France would make the cut.